


The One He Loves

by Tezca



Category: Adam Ruins Everything (TV)
Genre: Gen, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, Sick Character, alternative universe mermaids, background Adam/Emily, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2020-02-08 12:52:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18623668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tezca/pseuds/Tezca
Summary: To be debunked of something in an easier way is preferred. For Emily,  it was - unfortunately - the opposite.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place after the events in [The Backfire Effect](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18316544/chapters/43356974)
> 
> And thanks to Aedriane for beta'ing my fic!

For a - ironically speaking - fish out of the water, Emily wasn’t doing too bad. She was worried she was going to feel more out of place. Here she was, a human, at an actual small mermaid village off the coast of Long Island. Adam explained to her that it was one of the rare villages underneath the ocean that actually welcomes humans. All the people here ever want is just to co-exist.

_ “All, if not most, of the people there disagreed with wiping out all knowledge of our kind.” He had explained prior to the trip below the waves. _

Now, here she was, at a family reunion at their parent's place. She felt pleasantly surprised at how welcoming the other merpeople here taken to someone like her. She was still unsure, just based on what she was told in the past about how the majority of mermaids don’t really care for humankind nowadays.

But, a hug and hello from David and Arizona - Adam’s parents - assuaged her fears enough. At first glance, the house was breathtaking. The walls were made out of rock, decorated with various colors of coral. There were seaweed plants here and there. It was like a rock cave version of your typical house on land. Pretty damn cool, to say the least.

“I’m so glad you were able to come down here! Emily, isn’t it? Adam mentioned you when he called some time ago.”

Emily nodded and put on a friendly smile, “Yep, I’m Emily. It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Conover.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, Emily! You can just call me Arizona, or Ari if you wish,” Arizona said with a friendly smile of her own, “He also told me you were dating?”

“Yeah, we’ve been dating for five years. He’s great, though he can be a know-it-all, sometimes,” Emily teased with a light laugh with an affectionate eye roll.

She laughed along with her. Ok, that was good, Emily thought to herself. Always a surefire bet to start off on the right foot with someone, especially when they are one of your boyfriend’s parents. She took a calming breath, she could do this. She could definitely interact with a mermaid outside of Adam and Rhea.And she could, for sure, handle herself while the other two are talking with their father.

Arizona laughed merrily, “Oh, he’s been like that his whole life. Would tell us facts about anything since he was able to speak. Say, would you like to try some of my fish lasagna? It’s got all types of fish in it, and some eel, too, even.”

“Oh, sure! I actually never had any mermaid food, yet,” Emily chuckled.She always did like trying different foods from different cultures; this wasn’t any different. Plus, she wanted to show that she was interested in partaking in the world Adam came from.

“Well, we better change that, shouldn’t we? No better food than what Mama Conover makes,” She chuckled good-naturedly with a smile, “I'm surprised my son hadn’t made some for you to try yet,” She teased with only affection in her voice. 

_______________________

 

She never wanted to come here in the first place. What was the point of family reunions anyways? Ok, there are a few good points but these type of get-togethers weren’t her thing. And mermaid family reunions didn’t differ too much from human ones. Same booze fest, same inane gossiping, same idiot uncle thinking everyone wants to here his conspiracy rant. Just add water, and you’d have the mermaid version. There were a billion things on this big blue planet she’d rather do. If it weren’t for Adam and Emily, she would be back in L.A. rollerblading around the neighborhood. Instead, she was mingling about with second cousins whom she doesn’t have the remotest clue of beyond their names.

They were talking about things and events she wouldn’t have anything to add about. So, that was fun. Still, she mentally told herself she had to keep up a polite face, show just the right amount of interest. It helped that she had enough experience with small talk in general. Adam could play up the annoying relative role; she wanted to come off as socially adept as she did back on land. That being said, it wasn’t like she hadn’t made mistakes here and there before, but one would guess she was born a human compared to Adam. Someone had point-blank implied he was like an alien among humans for the first time. She chuckled to herself at the memory. 

She looked over her shoulder for a quick glance, seeing him happily waving his arms about in another small group. Probably telling them some truth about something, she didn’t really care what. 

“Hey, Rhea. You live on land right?” One of the group members asked.

Rhea was jostled out of her thoughts, and for a second, didn’t process what was asked. She had tuned out the conversation a long time ago. Around the moment one of them was telling a story about his friend’s brother training a small group of fish for a show for little merkids.

“Huh? Oh yeah-” She caught herself just in time.Not that no one would care if they had to repeat the question. She didn’t want to seem like she wasn’t listening, and therefore, being rude. “-I do, in Los Angeles.”

“Oh neat! Me and a couple of friends are planning on a trip up there. Is it true most humans are...assholes?”

“No. Some are, but most are nice. That being said, I would avoid the bars, if it's your first time going up. Alcohol tends to turn people into raging assholes.”

“Pretty much the same as down here, then,” Another member commented, causing the whole group to chuckle. 

The girl who had semi-awkwardly asked Rhea replied, “Cool! That’s good to hear. I did the research, and I came to the same conclusion...but I wanted a second opinion.”

A slight twinge of fleeting annoyance crept up in Rhea’s gut. She could’ve gone and asked Emily, a more direct source. However, Rhea could understand if she was shy and unsure of how to approach a human in general. Rhea has been there after all, so she didn’t have any right to say anything. For her, it was only about a month or so of practice before she felt confident enough with the social aspect. 

“Where are you going for your trip?”

“New York City. We figure we should start small.”

“Good idea. Me and Adam lived in NYC for the first three years out of the water.”

And speaking of humans, maybe she should check up on how Emily was doing. Rhea imagined an environment like this might get overwhelming for her. Or anyone, really, if they’ve ever gone to a party where they only knew one or two other people there. That seemed to be universal, from what she observed over the decades. 

Plus, she could finally have an engaging conversation with someone she actually wouldn’t tune out when they are talking. Rhea excused herself and swam to a clearing in the middle of the yard. Food was cooking on the grill on one side, and beautiful underwater fauna surrounding the perimeter. Schools of fish and other sea life swam above everybody’s heads.

Thankfully, there was still enough light from the sun to easily look around. She glanced around carefully. She made a complete 360 before casually swimming around as she looked downwards. All she had to do was look for the only person with legs in this stupid party.

She wasn’t even with Adam, which was her first guess, really. Maybe she was taking some time to herself in her and Adam’s room. Rhea wouldn’t blame her, as this was a whole new situation. And hell, watching tv in her room for the night until it was time to eat sounded good to her too. She about had enough of this family reunion, already. 

Rhea swam inside, her friend was nowhere to be seen on the first level. She called out her name but all she could find was her dad in the kitchen and an aunt napping on the couch. The process of elimination told her Emily had to be upstairs now. 

And upstairs in the hallway was where she finally spotted Emily, laying on the floor. Her heart sank several floors. Shit, this wasn’t good. 


	2. Chapter 2

“Emily!” Rhea cried out as she quickly swam over and swept her into her arms, “Emily are you alright?!” Rhea could feel her heart pounding. Just what the hell happened? Emily looked fine an hour ago, and now she looked sickly. Her face had drained of color, leaving behind a pale complexion. Even her eyes looked about lifeless. Several theories ran through her mind as to how she got sick. The most prominent was that she had eaten some mermaid food.

Emily could only give a pained groan in answer, sparking a sense of relief. Thank god she was still breathing. Rhea gently placed her hand against her forehead. Fuck, she was burning up. 

“Oh my god, my stomach hurts like hell…it feels like an army of knives are constantly stabbing my gut,” Emily weakly said with a feeble attempt to chuckle.

“Emily, can you tell me when this started happening?” Rhea asked, very much scared for her friend. She could feel herself getting more panicked by the second.

Rhea was grateful she and Emily were the only ones up here. She didn’t want anyone else to bother them unless their name was Adam Conover. 

Another pained groan escaped Emily’s lips, “I don’t- I’m not sure. A little after your mom offered some of her lasagna.”

And just like that, everything fell into place. Shit! Rhea sprung into action as adrenaline took over. Time was of the essence now. She knew what was happening to Emily. Mermaid food was basically poison to humans unless something magical was done to it. She first swam into the nearby room and placed Emily on the bed. Then she went into her parent's room to grab a seaweed from the small plant near the tv. They could be mad all they want about their anniversary gift being ruined; Emily’s life was at stake.

She had to neutralize the poison to stop it from getting worse. 

Meanwhile, Adam swam into the kitchen. For the past half-hour, he had been feeling a sense of foreboding. A sense that something bad was going down - Or about to. He was confused, especially since it kept persisting. Like a weird itch that just won’t go away no matter how hard you scratch. It started to creep up on him out of the blue. Slow at first, but it didn’t take too long to increase to a more urgent level. 

He was about to ask his dad about it when he stopped. It appeared to have gone stronger. Not with a bang, but with a subtle whisper that he would’ve missed if he wasn’t focused on it. It got noticeably stronger as he headed into the living room. 

It was like this sense beckoned him into a game of Hot or Cold. And the sense of sheer wrongness wasn’t going away anytime soon. Perhaps he should forgo asking anyone - aside from Rhea - and follow his gut. 

He took a calming breath and let his mind focus on the sense completely. He moved towards the stairs and went up. The sense piqued as soon as he reached the first door and looked in.

“Oh shit, Emily!” 

Adam hurriedly swam over to the bed and placed a gentle hand on her face. He felt a mixture of consternation and great distress. Emily was lying unconscious on the bed underneath an envelope of magic. Rhea had her hands over her stomach on the other side. 

“Rhea what happened to her?” Adam asked, confused, after a glance at his girlfriend.

“Our mother offered some of her fish lasagna to her,” Rhea quickly looked up as she explained, “I have her in a healing coma in order to neutralize the poison.”

Adam’s eyes widened as soon as the first part left Rhea’s mouth. His blood ran cold as his heart sank. He quickly placed his hands on the sides of her forehead and closed his eyes. Blue magic glowed as he accessed her recent memories. It was imperative to find out how much she had.  After a tense several seconds, Adam broke from his concentration. 

“She had about four bites, give her another dose,” Adam instructed concisely, having seen the seaweed laying haphazardly on the side, “I’m gonna talk to mom.”

It wasn’t any lie Adam was feeling pretty damn well pissed enough just from his demeanor. He knew she didn’t have any bad intentions, but this was one of those things that one needed to be careful of. He was determined to have a word with her. He turned to leave only to feel a fast grip on his arm. He quickly turned around.

“Adam don’t,” Rhea said, her eyes pleading, but knowing, “You’re just going to end up blowing the fuck up in front of her, and everybody else! Let’s just leave, please.”

Adam caught the look in his sister’s eyes. Part of him still wanted to speak to their mother, but deep down, he knew she was right. He *would* end up losing it in front of everybody. He looked at Rhea, then down at Emily. The voice in his head told him going to a more private area, out in the depths of the ocean, was the better idea. On the other hand, though...

“But Rhea, I...how else is she going to know any better next time if I don’t tell her now?”

Rhea sighed, “I get where you’re coming from, Adam, but you know damn well mom is not gonna get it. You can give her a presentation in great detail about the differences in anatomy and biology that lasts 3 hours, and she still won’t get it.”

Adam was still for a second before he nodded softly. He looked aimlessly off to the side as he assessed this whole ordeal. 

“Yeah...I suppose you’re right,” Adam dejectedly sighed, “In fact, let’s just go back to the hotel after we fully heal Emily.”

While Rhea administered another dose of the neutralizing concoction, Adam teleported all of their stuff back to the hotel the three were staying at. He also magically made the small window opening on the other side of the room larger. 

The initial part was finished just as Adam came back around. He scooped up Emily into his arms. He can feel her breathing slowly up against his skin. He held her gently but snug in his embrace. The two proceeded to head out into the open ocean. Nobody else at the party was any wiser to their disappearance, at least not for a good amount of time. Just how they wanted it to be, really.

The two eventually found an underwater plateau smooth and big enough. Adam materialized a bed of seaweed before he gently laid her down. She was going to wake up after they were done, and he didn’t want her to be uncomfortable.

Both Adam and Rhea hovered their hands over Emily. Magic flowed out to slowly engulf Emily in a cocoon of warm energy. At first, the energy field around her was cleanly divided between blue and red. They had to concentrate and pool enough energy so the two colors mixed as one.

After a minute of deep concentration, the energy around Emily suddenly swirled in together. The result was a deep rich purple.

“You’re doing great Rhea, keep it up,” Adam complimented, not breaking his gaze from Emily.

Rhea has gotten a lot better after she brushed up on spells and incantations meant for humans. It was a good thing he had most of the books regarding it, anyways. Made it tons easier, seeing how it would be hard to find said information before human knowledge of mermaids was erased otherwise.

After three minutes, the siblings slowly eased the magic off. The toxins were now completely gone from Emily’s body. Emily began to stir slowly and open her eyes. She didn’t appear to writhe in any sort of pain, so deep down, Rhea and Adam were relieved everything they did had worked. Instead, she merely just looking straight up at them in confusion.

“Adam? Rhea? Wait, where are we?” Emily asked as she quickly glanced around, it appeared they weren’t at the party.

For a moment, she was confused as to what happened. However, she sat up a few seconds later as memories of recent events flooded into her mind. She had gotten stomach pains and was intent on sleeping them off, not wanting to ruin the experience for anyone. Shit, this was the last thing she wanted. She didn’t want to be the cause of them leaving early. 

“We’re out in the ocean, Em. You’d gotten frighteningly sick, so we healed you,” Adam said soberly.

“Our kind of food is poisonous to humans without magic being involved,” Rhea added, she just was unsure of how that would be accomplished.

“What?!” Emily exclaimed in shock, “But I was told it would be fine to eat!”

“Hold on, she told you that?!” Adam questioned as he gently gripped her shoulders.

He swore under his breath. He felt a stronger sense of urgency to go straight back to the house and lay down the truth in no short and sweet words. On the other hand, he didn’t want to deal with it. Rhea was right, everything would just be awkward if he talked to her now, in such a heated emotional state.

Adam took a calming breath before he gently picked up Emily into his arms. He placed a hand on her face and ran a thumb down her cheek. 

He explained, “Mermaid food on its own is, like Rhea said, poisonous. But it can be made safe for humans to eat .”

“How?” Emily inquired.

She felt like she was in heaven in blissful relieve from the pain. That and the fact she was safe in Adam’s arms.

“You have to magically mix it up with a touch of blood from a mermaid.”

“Oh….” Emily wasn’t sure how to take that info in.”

Adam sympathized, “I know it sounds a little unorthodox, but that’s the main component for any magic used on humans.”

_________________

 

Adam and Emily were lazily spending the day away playing Red Dead Redemption. It had been a couple of days since they all arrived back in L.A. Rhea especially seemed all to be happy to be back. The only good family reunion, according to her, is one where you stay at home.

Nothing took them out of the game until they both noticed a flash of red out of the corner of their eyes. Rhea had teleported not to far from them. She had a letter her hand and an irritated expression on her face.

“Mom and dad sent us a letter demanding we explain why destroyed their prized gift,” Rhea announced as she handed the part to him, “They’re also demanding we replace it.”

Rhea crossed her arms as Adam silently read the letter. Now, they could go ahead and explain everything in a reply. But at the same time, Adam didn’t see any point to it. It sounded crass, but his parents weren’t too keen towards deep knowledge about humans. Adam would just eventually yell his voice raw trying to explain over and over.

He made his opinion be known by magically disintegrating the paper. He then picked up the controller and resumed playing as he spoke up. 

“There wouldn’t be any point in bothering with a reply,” Adam simply explained. Nothing more, nothing less.

“I figured,” Rhea said with a casual sigh and her arms crossed over her chest.

There was nothing scheduled for the day so Rhea just ended up sitting down on the couch on the empty spot next to Emily. She reckoned watching people play video games was definitely the better option, in these circumstances. 


End file.
